...the idea of “emphasizing offense over defense” becomes extremely problematic when applied to the martial arts, or to individual armed combat. Except in the rarest of cases, the human individual, as a holistic being, does not have the luxury of sacrificing a limb or a major organ in the pursuit of victory—that is, if they wish to maintain the ability to defend themselves, and to be of full service to their family, to their nation, to humanity, and to themselves.  - Ben Miller

Article Link: https://outofthiscentury.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/the-best-defense-is-a-good-offense-really/

I'm going to lay down my life. When the wolf comes, the wolf is coming for me instead of you. I'm actually going to stand there and take it. When I say I'm going to lay it down and pick it up, I'm now telling you what it means for me to know you, how well I know you, and how I've chosen to never unlink myself from you. So when you ask: Am I a good sheep, I'm going to tell you again: I took it all for you. When I lay down my life I do it with all your sin on me. I do it because I know you. And by this, you will know me: I call you by name. That's the word that's going to be in your ear, not: What have you done? So when I pick up my life, I pick you up with me. I own you. Not as property, but I own you as someone who calls your name over and over again.

By contrast, today, when the herd animal in Europe is the only one who attains and distributes honours, when "equality of rights" all too easily can get turned around into equality of wrongs - what I mean is into a common war against everything rare, strange, privileged, the higher man, the higher soul, the higher duty, the higher responsibility, the creative fullness of power and mastery - these days the sense of being noble, of willing to be for oneself, of being able to be different, of standing alone, and of having to live by one's own initiative - these are part of the idea "greatness," and the philosopher will reveal something of his own ideal if he proposes "The man who is to be the greatest is the one who can be the most solitary, the most hidden, the most deviant, the man beyond good and evil, lord of his virtues, a man lavishly endowed with will - this is simply what greatness is to be called: capable of being as much a totality as something multifaceted, as wide as it is full." And to ask the question again: today - is greatness possible? - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good & Evil, 212.

God gives himself in the for-youness of his body. God is found deep in the flesh. Why? To help dying you. Jesus' death saves only when it is preached for you. Otherwise, his cross casts a long shadow of judgment over history.  But, when the cross is preached for you, Jesus comes to you now, awful and joyful.

Just a few decades after Japan’s warrior class was abolished, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt raved about a newly released book entitled Bushido: The Soul of Japan. He bought five dozen copies for family and friends. In the slim volume, which went on to become an international bestseller, author Nitobe Inazo interprets the samurai code of behavior: how chivalrous men should act in their personal and professional lives.

Article Link: https://china.usc.edu/sites/default/files/forums/Samurai%20and%20the%20Bushido%20Code.pdf

Behold, not the Son of David, but the Lamb of God. This is the new word, the second word, or Gospel, of John the Baptizer's sermon. When the Gospel arrives, whether on a donkey or in an over-packed U-Haul. Christ comes to speak a new word. From Christ's mouth comes an absolute promise: "Repent, and believe the Gospel."

If you want to succeed in life, you have to be a good fighter. Why? Because you need to fight to achieve valuable things in life. While you could achieve some things without much effort, there is always a price to pay to get the valuable ones. They won't just come to you out of thin air.

Perseus cautiously entered, crouching low to avoid the sloping roof, slimy green and dripping with water. The foul stench made his stomach heave. He crawled further in, peering ahead in the gloom. The distant snoring of the Gorgons, and the soft hissing of the snakes that crowned their heads, reached the anxious warrior. The air turned bitter, the cold stinging his body like a swarm of wasps. He crept silently on, using the shield to reflect the way ahead. Suddenly, he tripped on a rock and a low grunt of pain escaped his lips. He froze, listening, peering. What was that?

How does one get dead people to worship God? How does one get dead people to give God his due, especially when they delude themselves that they're alive and going places? What would bring them in? What would church them, as we say today? What, after all, do the dead like to do?

This book is meant to help you get ahead in life by realizing that you are not the same person, and that you shouldn’t let the past retard you from growing spiritually and emotionally. You have more control over your mind than you might think. Hopefully you are inspired by reading this book; 365 pages of thought-provoking suggestions are here to help you healthily revisit the past, to keep you focused on the rewarding present, and hopeful for a better tomorrow.